Favorite X-artists?

[Emerald_616]

I realized I never really made a list:

Classic:
John Byrne (obvs.)
Art Adams
Paul Smith
Bill Sienkiewicz
Alan Davis

Chris Bachalo (1994-2011)

Modern:
Phil Jimenez
Salvador Larroca
Kaare Andrews
Jerome Opena
Emanuela Lupacchino
Phil Noto
Frazer Irving
Carlos Pacheco
Olivier Coipel

[El Sombrero]

Jim Lee
Art Adams
Bill Sienkiewicz
Chris Bachalo
Olivier Coipel

[Mia]

Andy Kubert.

[sungila]

Wow, this is a great thread to read through and really highlights what an amazing legacy x-books have of 'showing' the story that's become so 'knowable' - these artists collectively represent the best from their eras.

For me, the best art in x-books is the kind that doesn't make itself known. It's so readily permeable that it's hardly apparent. When I'm 'aware of the art' usually it's because it's distracting - when I'm 'unaware of the art' it's because it's inseparable from the story sequence in which I'm engaged.

That said, I think Alan Davis and John Romita Jr. were the two most responsible for providing the matrix for the feel of the x-language and the image of the x-cast that serve as my standards.

These days the age of the stand-alone art via Deviantart and other personal websites has dramatically broadened the form to include artists of all mediums and degrees of professionalism.

No longer are we just getting the panels, sketches and covers - now we get everything from classically inspired portraits to modern mixed media to performance.

It's difficult to compare the comics from different decades without recognizing the advancements in technology that have served the 'art' in comics extremely well. The fact that now the movies can do what in the past only the comics could do has also challenged comic art to be something different, an experience that transcends the CGI-enhanced moving pictures and in turn accomplishes what the movies can't.

Still, IMO, when I'm engaged in a comic...reading it issue to issue...I don't really want to think about the art. No more than I'd want to 'think' about my car while I'm driving. Ed McGuinness, Todd Nauck, Chris Bachalo, Giuseppe Camuncoli and Stuart Immonen all make distinctive, yet equally smooth rides - I'm grateful for their collective genius in keeping x-comics relevant and the hand-held pages undeniably more intimate and immediate than any other adapted format.

a very special thanks to Dave Cockrum for the spirit he infused into his creations
DaveCockrums.jpg

[JackalsIII]

Remember when the X-Men were like the WWE World Title in that it was the main goal of any artist / wrestler, to one day work on the X-Men, like it meant you finally made it? I miss those days of the X-Men.

Though Bendis does a decent job of giving different artists a chance on the title, so that's nice.

[Purplevit]

Clay Mann
Jim Lee
Carmine Di Giandomenico
Salvador Larroca (X-treme X-Men days)
Gabriel Hernandez Walta

[JackalsIII]

Larroca needs a good colorist, back when he had Liquid! at his mercy, he was simply amazing! I've seen some colorist who clearly were out to get him and it made me sad.

[Patgosplat]

John Byrne
Marc Silvestri
Alan Davis
Paul Smith
John Cassaday

[Daymare]

Larroca needs a good colorist, back when he had Liquid! at his mercy, he was simply amazing! I've seen some colorist who clearly were out to get him and it made me sad.

He really became amazing to me when they did the direct pencil coloring. The inking of his art caused it to look actually less unique. The transition from X-treme to Namor was not so bad but it was the later stuff wehre the inking had a direct impact. He is a workhorse though. He can crank out the issues.

[JackalsIII]

He really became amazing to me when they did the direct pencil coloring. The inking of his art caused it to look actually less unique. The transition from X-treme to Namor was not so bad but it was the later stuff wehre the inking had a direct impact. He is a workhorse though. He can crank out the issues.

He's the X-Men's Bagley.

[Nick Miller]

Jim Lee is THE X-men artist...you heathens....
.

[Nick Miller]

back when real men had hair on their chests

[SkaraBrae]

It wasn't really my era, so I never "got" the appeal of Jim Lee-- although I'll take him over lesser imitators, anyday. My list pretty much begins and ends with Alan Davis, as much as I love Cockrum, Byrne, and JRJ. Some of his Rachel-Phoenix stuff just takes my breath away... and little character moments like Kurt's tail curling around his leg in a full-body cringe... perfection.

[MYCMTSC]

Jim Lee is THE X-men artist...you heathens....
.

When your example is a picture of all the X-Men in their bathing suits I think you've already proven yourself wrong.

There's more artistry in a poorly photoshopped Cosmo spread.

My choices:
Chris Bachalo
Bill Sienkiewicz
Mike del Mundo
Jerome Opena
Marc Silvestri

[Goggindowner]

It wasn't really my era, so I never "got" the appeal of Jim Lee-- although I'll take him over lesser imitators, anyday. My list pretty much begins and ends with Alan Davis, as much as I love Cockrum, Byrne, and JRJ. Some of his Rachel-Phoenix stuff just takes my breath away... and little character moments like Kurt's tail curling around his leg in a full-body cringe... perfection.

Alan Davis definitely is one of the greats to work on the title. His cover to Uncanny 213 will always stand as one of my all time favorites.